Determining Your Financial Need

All of Haverford’s financial aid is need-based, which means a measure of the student’s family resources must be assessed before grant funds can be determined.

To be eligible to receive financial aid, the student must be matriculated at Haverford College. In addition, to receive Federal Title IV financial aid (Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG Grant, Federal work-study, and any Federal Direct Loans), the student must be a high school graduate (or equivalent), and a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.

Applying for Haverford Grant

Applicants apply for Haverford Grant by completing the CSS Profile. (See “Applying for Financial Aid”). The information on this form is processed by the College Board using a need-analysis formula that measures family resources such as parental taxed and untaxed income, the parents’ and student’s assets, and variables such as the age of the parents, taxes paid, medical expenses, and family size, including the number of family members attending undergraduate college during the same academic year. NOTE: Haverford only counts full-time undergraduate enrollment of siblings; parents in school are not considered, nor are siblings who are enrolled part-time or in graduate study.

The result of the formula is an estimate of what the family should be expected to pay to send one member to college for the given year. This is called “the family contribution.”

In addition, there are three components to the need-analysis formula that represent a student’s inherent responsibility to help pay for college. These are “student savings expectation,” a “loan expectation,” and a “job earnings expectation.” Not all students will be measured with a loan expectation. More information about these components is listed below.

Finally, the Financial Aid Office determines a cost of attendance for the student, which includes not only tuition, fees, room and board, but provides allowances for books, supplies, and personal expenses. The components described above are subtracted from this, and the difference is the applicant’s financial need.

The Equation for Determining Financial Need
Cost of Attendance
— Family Contribution
— Student Asset Contribution
— Student Savings Expectation
— Loan Expectation (if applicable)
= Haverford Financial Need

Need is filled by grant aid (including aid from government sources) and a work-study amount, which is used to help subsidize a campus job to meet the “job earnings expectation.”

Federal Financial Aid

Families apply for Federal financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). (See “Applying for Financial Aid”). The FAFSA asks many questions similar to the Profile, but applies that data for the Federal Government’s own need-analysis formula. Instead of a family contribution, the Federal formula uses a “Student Aid Index” (SAI) in place of a specific family contribution.

Federal need is determined by taking the same cost of attendance used for Haverford Grant and subtracting the Student Aid Index and all other aid.

The Equation for Determining Federal Financial Need
Cost of Attendance
— Student Aid Index
— Other Aid (including Haverford Aid)
= Federal Financial Need

A Haverford student’s financial aid package will cover their full financial need, but the funding to do this may be a combination of Haverford and Federal aid with one type of aid superseding another. A student who is eligible for a Federal Pell or SEOG grant will have their Haverford Grant reduced to stay within need, but the student can borrow as much as is allowable from the Federal loan program without having their Haverford Grant reduced. In all cases financial need cannot be exceeded.

Reapplying for Aid in Future Years

Students must reapply for financial aid each academic year, which includes completing the CSS Profile and FAFSA, and submitting supporting income documentation by the appropriate deadlines. A fresh determination of the student’s financial need will be made each year, and this can cause the amount of financial aid to vary from one year to the next. Variables that tend to change financial aid on an annual basis include, but are not limited to:

Gain or loss of personal income
New unreimbursed medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of income
Additional dependent children or fewer dependent children in the family
Addition or reduction in number of children attending college during the academic year
Adjustments to student savings expectation, work-study, or other financial resources as determined by the College

Student Savings Expectation
Student savings expectation is one of three components in the need analysis formula that represent a student’s inherent responsibility to help pay for college. The amount is derived from expected savings accrued over the previous year.

The student savings expectation for the 2025-2026 academic year is expected to be:

$2,000 for first-year students

$2400 for sophomores, juniors and seniors

Student savings expectation is a theoretical amount, and may not represent actual savings. However, because it does represent a student’s responsibility to pay, it cannot be removed from the need analysis formula, even if the student is unable to save during the expected annual timeframe.
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Job Earnings – Work-Study

Job earnings is one of three components that represent a student’s inherent responsibility to help pay for college. The expected amount comes from wages earned during the academic year. Unlike student savings expectation or a loan expectation, job earnings are not part of the need analysis formula, but are reflected as part of the financial aid award itself, typically in the form of a work-study or Haverford job fund. In this way it does help fill a student’s financial need. Because job earnings reflect a student’s responsibility to help pay for college, it cannot be removed if the student chooses not to work or is unable to do so.

Work-study amounts for the 2025-2026 academic year are expected to be $2,200 for first-year students, and $2,300 for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

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Loan Expectation
Some students will see a loan expectation added to their need analysis calculation. The loan expectation is one of three components representing a student’s inherent responsibility to help pay for college. Haverford does not encourage loan borrowing, but does recognize that the Federal Direct Loan Program is a viable resource to help pay for college, and that it is not unreasonable for students of certain family incomes to take advantage of the loan program if they choose to do so. Once determined, the loan expectation will not change for subsequent academic years.

A loan expectation is only an expectation, and not a part of a student’s actual financial aid. Students must decide if they wish to borrow, and may borrow more or less than the expectation, as needed. If students borrow more than their loan it will have no adverse effect on their Haverford Grant.

For the 2025-2026 academic year, the loan expectation will be applied as follows:

Parental income less than or up to $59,999 will have no loan expectation.

Parental income from $60,000 to $99,999 will have a $1,500 per year loan expectation.

Parental income from $100,000 to $149,999 will have a $2,500 per year loan expectation.

Parental income of $150,000 or greater will have a $3,000 per year loan expectation.
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Grant

After all other resources have been accounted for, any gap remaining in a student's financial need is covered by grant funds from Haverford College. All Haverford grants are need-based. There are also named and endowed grant funds stewarded by the College. Students with financial need will be automatically considered for such funds if funds have not yet been allocated and they meet the characteristics specified by the donor. All scholarship endowment is incorporated within the need-based Haverford Grant. Students need not apply separately for such funds.

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Financial Aid